Is Damian Hardwick the right coach to lead Richmond forward ???

[dean33]

Does a lack of form mean someone isn't considered an A-grader? Was Ablett not an A-grader prior to surgery?

I was going to post the same thing... so a-grade status changes from week to week depending if you
a: are playing
b: played well?

Rance - potentially a-grader, potentially best defender in the comp, has had a poor last few weeks
Cotchin - not an a-grader, was looking that way however last 2 years have been below what he should be delivering, should be elite.
Reiwoldt - 2 coleman medals but has to many down days to be considered a consistent a-grader
Martin - still doesn't work hard enough defensively to be an a-grader but has the weapons to become one
Lids - struggles with the tag but when on he hurts the opposition, a-grader.

Main issue with richmond and has been for a few years, lack of leadership, not mentally strong enough, to easy to play against, no plan b when plan a is not working.

 

[Shinboner '07]

I'd say Cotchin and riewoldt are A graders

 

[MotleyLemon]

Cotchin
Riewoldt
Rance

For a start are A graders

Cotchin isn't close, and if not for Murphy would be considered the worst captain in the league. Absolutely dreadful as a leader.

 

[master bate]

Ranch is an a grader... He was about the best player in the comp for a while at the end of last year during richmonds winning run

He is a sauce.

To be fair he probably is an A grader. But 1 key defender can only do so much. Hogan got the better of him. He wasn't even on Hawkins v Geel for the start of that game but didn't have a great game and then he lost his mind in the 3rd quarter against North. Whether it's just a few bad games in a losing side or a bigger slide brought on by the pressure of his contract future and discussion of his personal life time will tell.

 

[Xtreme]

Media seem to only be able to circle around one target at a time.

 

[Mofra]

Cotchin doesn't have enough hurt factor with his possessions to be truly A grade.
Lids is A grade when he's on the paddock - compare Richmond's win/loss ratio when he's in the team compared to when he's injured and it's a stark difference.
Riewoldt is an A grade deep forward, B grade high forward. Surely Hardwick's worked this out by now?
Rance is A grade and up there with the best defenders in the competition, but what chance is he of staying at Richmond next year?

 

[ep2018]

Rance is definitely not an A grader. More like a C grader. One of the most overrated defenders in the comp.

He would be A grade at a good team.

 

[ep2018]

The longer Hardwick is at Richmond the better it is for all of us. Richmond are a decent team and should be making finals regularly.

 

[BoxMatrix]

He would be A grade at a good team.

He would probably look like an A grader. Does not make him an A grade player. Much like Travis Varcoe.

 

[DerpWerls]

Perhaps mine will then?

Where does Cotchin go when the game is there to be won? Where is he when the Tigers concede 3 quick goals and the game appears to get away from them? Why does Dustin Martin get most of his possessions running away from goal, in the back half, before swinging onto his right and kicking across field? How are the following players still getting regular games? Batchelor, Grimes, Grigg, Chaplin, Gordon, Morris, Newman... Why have Ben Lennon, Ty Vickery, Reece Conca not developed? Who's idea was it to put Morris in the leadership group, making him probably undroppable? Why is the current gameplan some kind of half arsed "handball and run at all costs", that the players seem to have no idea about, which almost always turns into a turnover on the wing?

The only thing currently saving Dimma's job is that Carlton are simply awful. But looking at the two teams, they are more or less the same, albeit the Tigers are getting ever so slightly more out of their bottom 10...

Round 15 vs the Blues has the makings of the second Kreuzer Cup.

I don't think anyone is still under the impression that Cotchin is up there with the game's elite midfielders. He is miles off it. Not damaging at all even when he plays his best games he still doesn't truly impact the outcome of the game.

Ty Vickery is a failure, Reece Conca is a failure due to injury, too early to call on Lennon.

Batchelor, Grimes, Grigg, Chaplin, Gordon, Morris, Newman - None at the required standard and these battlers are causing us to lose games. That coupled with the fact that our team structure and game plan seems to be completely dysfunctional.

Mainstream media just runs the same old line that "It can't be left up to Cotchin, Deledio & Martin each week to get the job done". There is little to no analysis of the poorer players.

Clearly our list needs a bit of a clean out and top up, we were completely inactive over the most recent period so you would hope that this would be considered a fail and a new approach taken. I would also suggest a new senior coach would be a good start.

I'd wait a month before tipping us for 17th/18th place. Brisbane are worse, who we beat by 79 points. We were 2-4 this time last year, Carlton were 2-4 this time last year, Brisbane were 1-5 this time last year.

Our form is dreadful right now but we will get some cheap/meaningless wins here and there and expect us to be active over the offseason. I'd book some holidays for September/October but I want to see Fremantle win their first flag.

 

[The King!]

if they have no A graders then they arent performing too badly then surely?

 

[dean33]

The longer Hardwick is at Richmond the better it is for all of us. Richmond are a decent team and should be making finals regularly.

Agree(except the better part), we don't make finals this year(not looking likely) he won't be there next year. A good coach would have us playing finals regularly and not have the fluctuations in form that we currently have to endure.

 

[Syd]

He would be A grade at a good team.

Therein lies the real answer.

Late last year Richmond's midfield was securing more ball, working better defensively which restricted F50 entries by the opposition making Rance look better (as well as the rest of the defence).

This year the midfield is nowhere near as good\accountable, more ball into D50 and the entire defence looks suspect.

Simples.

 

[MisterMarcus]

Cotchin
Riewoldt
Rance

For a start are A graders

Is Cotchin in the same bracket as Ablett, Selwood, Pendlebury?

Is Riewoldt in the same bracket as Hawkins or Franklin or Pavlich? (Or Nick?)

Is Rance in the same bracket as Lonergan or Lake?

That's what I'd define as "A grade". Do any of those three measure up? Questionable......

 

[Syd]

The longer Hardwick is at Richmond the better it is for all of us. Richmond are a decent team and should be making finals regularly.

Yeah\Nah

10-12 for mine

 

[Kram]

Cotchin is the worst so called A grader I've ever seen.

 

[scalesofjustice]

Rance is definitely not an A grader. More like a C grader. One of the most overrated defenders in the comp.

Agreed with this.

Luke McPharlin, Tom McDonald, Jeremy McGovern, Harry Taylor, Josh Gibson....

Just a few off the top of my head who are better IMO

 

[Belnakor]

Ranch is an a grader... He was about the best player in the comp for a while at the end of last year during richmonds winning run

he was never anywhere near the best player in the comp.

The biggest concern btw must be Martin. He was supposed to be next big thing, he has really dropped off and seems unable to improve his fitness.

 

[Sylvia Saint]

Dustin Martin is an A-grader. The media are very harsh on him. He's been playing well for years, averaging 26.5 possessions a game this year and they're not dinky little kicks either. They are long, accurate kicks. He kicks goals too.

 

[SickQwon]

Richmond Firesale, when?

 

[Hamingja]

He would probably look like an A grader. Does not make him an A grade player. Much like Travis Varcoe.

Aside from GFs opposed to Raph Clarke and Leon Davis when has Varcoe even looked like an A Grader let alone anyone considering him as such?

 

[Tas]

I think the problem with spouting the term A-Grader is not defining what he means as an A-Grader. It is a very loose definition for one of the better players but there is no metric to measure so it is very subjective based on individual opinion.

If I could have Martin, Cotchin or Deledio from Richmond I would pick Martin without hesitation. The fact he isn't going that great atm in the Richmond side is largely irrelevant.

 

[electricfeel]

****ing lol at #concerning.

Sorry, that's my input. I'm out.

 

[Belnakor]

Dustin Martin is an A-grader. The media are very harsh on him. He's been playing well for years, averaging 26.5 possessions a game this year and they're not dinky little kicks either. They are long, accurate kicks. He kicks goals too.

he has got 3 AFLCA votes for the year playing as a mid, if he was A grade he'd have a few more than that by now.

 

[MotleyLemon]

Dustin Martin is an A-grader. The media are very harsh on him. He's been playing well for years, averaging 26.5 possessions a game this year and they're not dinky little kicks either. They are long, accurate kicks. He kicks goals too.

Martin is currently getting most of his possession running back towards his defensive 50, then swinging onto his right and kicking it sideways. This would be ok if they had someone to deliver it into 50 from there, but Deledio having been out left them with no one. Martin needs to stop getting these cheap possessions, and start running through the middle towards goal, and spotting up Jack/Griffiths inside 50. I can only think of a handful of times that he's done this so far this year.

I think the media is justified in their harshness. He is effectively the same player he was in his first year now, except maybe getting an extra couple of cheapies here and there...